All of us are extremely lucky to live in a peaceful country, which makes us resistant to our people’s problems. This week was full of threats for Ukraine and Ukrainians. russians shelled most cities, including the region I come from, which was considered the most peaceful in Ukraine. They damaged essential infrastructure – what were the damages, consequences, and plans for improvement? Read here.

Context: russia bombed most Ukrainian regions on 11-12th of October, which the CEO of UkrEnergo, Volodymyr Kudritskyi, called the most significant attack on energy infrastructure in history. Nearly 30% of all energy stations were damaged. The overall damage is estimated at millions of dollars because not only energy consumers suffered from energy loss, but also Ukrainian energy export undercame significant limitations. By the end of the week, most energy transmissions were renewed, but russia continued to bomb Kyiv’s energy stations even when I was writing this article – on the 15th of October.

Employees of UkrEnergo did almost impossible work – they fixed energy transmission in two-three days after the massive attacks. The answer to how remains unrevealed is not to inform the enemy of strategic solutions. All we know is that UkrEnergo applied a systematic and comprehensive approach in each region. Moreover, the cooperation of energy consumers and energy companies made it possible. Remarkably, Kyiv inhabitants reduced their energy consumption by 25% during peak hours to facilitate UkrEnergo’s work. 

Towards cooperation with the EU – the energy exports are temporarily halted. It demonstrates how destructive russia’s actions are for the whole global community. Although the attacks 10-12th of October were the most massive in the war history, Ukraine did not involve Europe’s resources to fix it. Of course, Zelenskyy asked G-7 for more weapons as it is our shared responsibility to save Ukrainians and the whole world from russian invasion. 

Moreover, UkrEnergo develops preventative plans to eliminate the adverse effects of further russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure. They remain unrevealed once again, not to familiarize the enemy with strategy and avoid an information leak. The company shares only general milestones such as training employees, strengthening energy stations, and preparing a plan for a quick reaction to energy infrastructure damage. 

To sum up, the European community should be aware of the crimes russia commits in Ukraine. Recent energy infrastructure attacks demonstrate this state is inconsiderate toward the global community. Despite all of their efforts undertaken to deprive Ukrainians of energy, russia managed only to cut electricity for two days. It demonstrates how powerful and effective UkrEnergo and our people are. These events are very personal for me as a person whose motherland is constantly damaged and whose family is affected by the inhuman actions of russia.

Iryna Nykoriak

Published 15.10.2022

Also may interest you: FIGHT FOR ELECTRICITY: HOW DOES UKRAINE OPERATE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE DURING THE WAR?